In the drilling and completion arts it has long been known to place openings in a tubular string to provide fluidic access through the tubular string in a generally radial direction. Stated alternatively, such openings allow fluidic communication between an inside dimension flow channel and an annulus created between the tubular string and a borehole wall (casing or open hole). It has also been known for an extended period to use openable and closable valves in concert with such openings to selectively prevent the fluid movement noted above.
A ubiquitously used and relied upon example of the foregoing is a sliding sleeve arrangement. One of ordinary skill in the art will be immediately familiar with the terms sliding sleeve and recognize that such an arrangement includes a housing having an opening, a sleeve translatable relative to the housing to either misalign entirely with the opening or to align a port with the opening, and a spring to bias the sleeve to a selected position (open or closed).
Commonly the arrangement noted is run in the hole with the sleeve in a closed position; operations are undertaken; the sleeve is opened with a tool run separately for the purpose of opening the sleeve; other operations are undertaken; and another run is employed to close the sleeve. This process is well accepted and oft used.
Since each run into the borehole is a costly affair, the art is always receptive reductions in the number of runs required for a given set of operations.